Space Kitty: Introducing Phillip
by Penningpastiche
Summary: Rose adopts a kitten and brings him on board the TARDIS. The Doctor acts disapproving, but Rose knows he's only pretending. Pure fluff, really. No real plot. Set sometime during mid-Series 1.


**I was sad so I made a thing.**

He'd be mad, she knew he would. Or he would pretend to be, anyway. But it's not like she could have turned Sharon down, right? Her mum's neighbor had found the kitten in an Estate dumpster, abandoned by someone no doubt. Jackie said Sharon had been trying to find a home for the little thing for nearly a month. The minute Jackie mentioned it, Rose got up and went down to Sharon's flat. The Doctor was off doing some repairs on the TARDIS, she had some time to spare, and _kitten_.

As soon as Rose saw the little gray kitten, who couldn't be more than a couple months old, she knew he was coming home with her. "Oh aren't you adorable," she said, gently picking him up.

"He's entirely healthy," Sharon said. "Neutered and up-to-date on all his shots. I checked."

Rose giggled as he licked her on the nose. "Why would anyone want to abandon you?" She said to the little ball of fur in her arms.

"It was likely whoever owned him couldn't afford to keep him. He's a little bit underfed." Sharon said.

"You poor thing," Rose said as he began playing with the strings on her hoodie. She looked up at Sharon. "I'll take him."

Sharon's face lit up. "Really? Oh thank you Rose!"

"Of course," Rose said with a smile, scratching the kitten behind his little ear. She wasn't sure what it would be like to have a pet on the TARDIS, but she'd figure it out. Sharon was clearly relieved, and this little guy was so cute it would have been almost impossible to say no.

Sharon gave her a bag with some food, food dishes, and some litter. "Thank you again, Rose!" she called as Rose stepped out of the door, the kitten cradled in her arms.

"Of course!" Rose had taken three steps when she remembered something. "Oh! Sharon!" The woman poked her head out of her door. "Does he have a name?"

"He doesn't, actually. I've just been calling him kitten. You can come up with one!"

Rose stopped by her mum's for a little bit to gather her things, and then returned to the TARDIS. The kitten—who she was trying to brainstorm a name for—was remarkably well-behaved, sitting in the crook of her arm and looking around at everything with his bright blue eyes. They reminded her of the Doctor's eyes.

The door squeaked it's familiar squeak when she pushed it open, giving the kitten his first glimpse into his new home. The space clearly startled him, his little claws snagging on her hoodie sleeve, though he didn't try to jump down. The Doctor emerged from the bowels of the console when he heard the door shut. It didn't take him long to spot the little creature in her arms.

"What's this now?" He said, setting down the fantastically twisted tool he was holding and approaching.

"My new pet," she said, trying not to let her worry show. She really didn't want the Doctor to get mad at her.

"And where you'd pick this one up?"

"One of my mum's neighbors found him in a dumpster on the Estate. Apparently she's been trying to find a home for him for nearly a month. I couldn't help but want to bring him home."

He met her eyes, holding them for a long minute. She looked at him quizzically, wondering why it seemed like his eyes were the microscope and she was the thing being examined. His eyes flicked across her face so quick she almost missed the movement, and then he looked back at the kitten. "Well I'm not cleaning up after it."

"_Him,_ for your information. His name is Phillip." She'd come up with the name on the spot, but it fit and she liked it.

The Doctor just went back to his tinkering. Rose took Phillip to her room.

She put the pan of litter in her attached bathroom, and his food bowls near her dresser. She sat down on her bed while Phillip explored his new home, smiling a little to herself when he jumped up to join her. He nosed around on the bed, poking at her pillow and comforter, before coming over to rub his face against her leg. As cute as he was, she was still sad. The Doctor had acted more negative about him than she had hoped, and she was hard-pressed to think of a way to get him to change his mind. Hopefully time would do the trick. _Ironic, given we live in a time machine._

The Doctor didn't really mention Phillip the rest of the day, as they left the Powell Estates for the vortex. The first time Phillip heard the time rotor he ended up in Rose's lap, face buried in the crook of her elbow, scared of the noise. It broke her heart in a cute way. Poor little thing. She caught the Doctor watching as she cradled the kitten, comforting him. He looked away as soon as their eyes met.

A little while later, Rose made dinner for them and brought it back to the console room. At some point this had become a habit, eating with their plates perched on their laps as they sat on the grating or she on the captain's chair and he standing. While they eat Phillip prowls around the room, sometimes playing with the black cables that dangle from the console, and Rose can't help but giggle. He's a bit awkward and keeps tripping over himself as he walks and jumps from surface to surface. Eventually he jumps up on the coral strut nearest to her and curls up, watching them with bright blue eyes. Licking a bit of mashed potato off of her fork, Rose glances over to the Doctor and realizes he's gazing at the kitten. He shifted like he'd been going to go over and pet him, but then settled back again and didn't move. Rose smiled.

Later that night, Rose left the console room to change into her pyjamas. She had expected Phillip to follow her but it wasn't until she got back to her room that she realized he hadn't. She changed her clothes, expecting him to wander into the room at any moment, meowing his little squeaky meow. The TARDIS, figuring out what the little fluffy thing was that was now wandering her halls, had quickly installed a cat flap in Rose's bedroom door, so Phillip could come and go as he pleased.

Approaching the console room door, Rose heard the scuffle of paws coming from the console room and began walking faster, hoping that Phillip was okay, but then she heard footsteps that were certainly too big to be the cat's.

"Come on, i's over here now."

Rose stopped dead in her tracks. That was the Doctor's voice, but who was he talking to? Who _else_ would he be talking to besides Phillip?

"Come on, come get it." She heard the soft clang of his boots on the grating followed by more scuffling pawsteps. _He's playing with Phillip,_ she thought, a grin splitting her face in two so suddenly it almost hurt. She covered her mouth with her fingers, slowly peeking around the edge of the doorframe.

The scene she found nearly brought tears to her eyes from how cute it was, so rare a moment. The Doctor had taken his jacket off—it was draped over the captain's chair—and was circling the console, a feather on a string dangling from his fingers. Phillip followed close behind, batting and swatting at the constantly-moving feather. When the Doctor came around the console she caught a glimpse of his face, and his grin was so big, so pure, that it nearly made her gasp. It spread all the way across his face, lighting up his eyes with a delight that she had never seen before.

When Phillip, so eager to get the feather that he didn't pay attention to where he was going, tripped over his own paws, the Doctor laughed and Rose realized that it was his real laugh. She had heard him laugh before, but not like that. It was a sound she never wanted to forget. She watched as he bent over to pick up the kitten, who was still lying sprawled on the floor. Holding the feather string in one hand, the Doctor cradled the little kitten against his chest, grinning like a mad man as Phillip reached out with his little feet to play with the toy. Looking up at the Doctor, the little kitten mewed, and then, instead of going after the feather, decided to sniff the Doctor's nose. Rose could see the Doctor trying hard not to flinch, as Phillip sniffed and then surprised the man by nuzzling his cheek.

"So you like Time Lords, hmm?" The Doctor asked quietly. He looked the kitten in the eye for a moment. "I think I like you too."

Rose ducked back behind the door, not wanting to spoil the Doctor's moment with Phillip just yet. Maybe having Phillip on board would work out after all.

**Fin.**

**Also, just in case it wasn't clear to some of you, the Doctor was indeed just pretending in the beginning to not like Phillip. It came off a little harsher than I meant it to. The Doctor was like "ANGST!" and I was like "NO! FLUFF! YOU WILL OBEY ME!" and this was how it ended up. **


End file.
